Prayers: Don’t Trust The Heart, Yet You Need The Heart

04 Nov Prayers: Don’t Trust The Heart, Yet You Need The Heart

Posted at 11:22h in English Service by

Pastor Vincent - 19 March 2015

Seek The Lord While He May Be Found

All English Service

At some points of our lives, we often come to a spiritual stupor- we find ourselves in a state of not seeking God, because He just feels so far away from us - remotely related to our feelings, needs, and critical situations we're in. It's easy to say a prayer of "Lord, please give me the strength and wisdom to face this episode...", but how often do we consciously seek God's voice in our situation and His perfect will (not our ways) after we've prayed? We often think that it's suffice - we've prayed, we've come to church, we've done something good to others, but through it all, do we seek to meet Him face to face, hear His advices and rebukes, and receives approvals and praises from Him? Have we stopped anticipating from Him? Or have we become disheartened because of the many unanswered prayers? God said, " as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields see for the sower and bread for the eater, So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." [Is 55:10-11] God is a God who keeps His covenant with His people. Today, regardless of how overwhelmed we are, He is still leading the entire history of mankind and you with His covenant, achieving His ultimate purpose here on earth. Let us not harden our hearts and continue on our rebellious ways. Turn to Him today, put to stop the fictional faith living we have and seek Him while He may be found. While the current thoughts, feelings and situations may seem real to you, God's thoughts and ways are higher than ours, and His way is the one that truly set us free from our deadlocks. The presence of the Lord comes alive when you seek Him today, may we be the seeker of God in all things and at all times!

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Prayers: Don’t Trust The Heart, Yet You Need The Heart


We no doubt know the importance of prayer. Yet in reality, prayer could be the hardest thing to do in our Christian life. And the reason is probably because our hearts doesn’t seem to draw close to God in prayer. We felt more like engaging in a ritual than prayer often times. So the problem at heart is THE HEART. How do we overcome the problem of the heart then?

 Verses to read:
<Jeremiah 17:9> <Mark 7:20-21><James 4:7-10><James 4:1-2,4>

Introduction:

“Pray in the spirit with all kinds of prayers in all occasion” <Eph 6:18>.

  • Yet, prayer is by far one of the most difficult spiritual exercise in most Christian lives. Few enjoyed prayer becoz they could not draw near to God.
  • In prayer, our heart lies at the center of the problem.
  • Should we trust our heart? Yet without the heart, how to pray?
  • The Lord is near to the broken-hearted, and HE saves the contrite in spirit <Ps 34:18>.

1. The Gospel reveals the nature of the Heart.

1) Its deceitful above all else <Jer 17:9>.

  • It creates its own truth, even about God.
  • People who believes in the wrong gospel are NOT praying, even though they are.
  • What is the fundamental gospel truths?
    – SIN (against God)
    – Salvation (through Faith in Christ alone)
    – To live in pursuit of God and the Kingdom

2) So there must first be a renewal of the heart

  • heart of stone to a heart of flesh <Eze 36:26>.

3) Yet, the heart is always prone to spiritual attacks.

  • Prone to the enemies lies (temptations, accusations, worries of life, feel abandoned by God, etc)

2. How to draw near to God, despite spiritual attacks?

1) Know our spiritual enemy – The Devil

  • He works through:
    (1) Our sinful desires
    (2) The World
    (3) Haughtiness, proudness

2) Yet God showed us MORE GRACE! <v6>

  • My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. <1 John 2:1>
  • If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. <1 John 1:9>

3) Act of True Confession <v8>

  • (1) Wash your hands, you sinners
  • (2) Purify your hearts, you double-minded

4) Grieve, mourn and wail… <v9>

5) Humble yourself before the Lord and he will lift you up. <v10>

Reflection:

1) What is the greatest obstacle in your prayer life?

2) How do you usually deal with a “no heart to pray” situation?

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Pastor Vincent Choo
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Vincent serves as the President of The Blessed Run Church. He is also the Senior Pastor of The Life Church and Missions (Singapore) and is an ardent missionary to the Chinese World. He currently lives in Singapore with his wife, Qiufen, and has three kids, Mary, David, and Caleb.

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